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Niles Heron

@nilesheron

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Girl Dad. Unapologetic. Recovering Founder. Bad Golfer. Builder. Breaker. Believer. // @techtowndetroit @venture313 @verseandhook prev: @loadedplays

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“Woke up in the mornin’ and to God be the glory / thankful for another day to tell my story” // job’s not finished, but grateful it doesn’t feel like work. Q3 goes faster and faster every year. by @nilesheron

I asked OG how often he plays golf.. He smiled, and said “every day — because at home it’s just a lot of honeydew…”

New life goal unlocked.

(Late Gemini, Cancer, Leo dump) by @nilesheron

My 40th year is starting differently than I thought it would. So much of my youth was spent working for dreams it felt like no one believed in, even if they believed in me. It felt like I was begging for an opportunity to be happy. I imagined what it would look like when I got there. But I couldn’t have imagined the love I would be surrounded by, even as I find myself in a destination I didn’t set out for. I find myself closer to my purpose than maybe ever before. Thank you, God. Thank you for trusting me with this life. I hope my hands can continue to serve your mission, and my feet bring me closer to you. by @nilesheron

I understand it now. God is good.

#ArtBasel by @nilesheron

“God is compassionate, but if you plant barley, don’t expect to harvest wheat.” - Rumi

October was a blur. From Detroit to Houston and back. From making playlists to an impromptu 4 hour DJ set. From pit-of-stomach uncertainty to feeling like my steps are guided and hands are His (and back). So far to go, but grateful for how far I’ve come.

Head up. Eyes open. Pocket full of seed. Sow and harvest.

#DoTheWork by @nilesheron

10 years ago, we launched Michigan Funders.

My first company. My first big leap.

We were in the papers. On the panels. I even made Crain’s 20 in their 20s.

Then came the cease-and-desist letters.
The doubt. The crash. The quiet.

By the time I walked that stage and got my 20/20 lil glass trophy thingy, our company was already on its last breath.

But failure only defines you if you stop because of it.

10 years later — Crain’s 40 Under 40. And just to make sure I couldn’t try to act like it was a mistake, CDB invited me to be a featured panelist for their Power Breakfast Series: “Unlocking Innovation: Inside Detroit’s Tech Hubs and Incubators.”

Grateful to the mentors, teammates, and builders shaping Detroit’s next chapter.

Still a kid from the Eastside. #DoTheWork

📸: Brett Mountain by @nilesheron

More have prayed for me than I can count. I’m so grateful that I get to do the work. I just want to leave this place better than it found me. And, apparently I got some sun, this summer. Thank you to the folks who took time to nominate me, the orgs, partners, and founders that trust me, to the team at TechTown that lets me stand in purpose, and everyone who has given me space to learn, and guidance to succeed. by @nilesheron

“As you start to walk the way, the way appears.” (Rumi)

… and as you start to love yourself, love appears.
As you start to do the work, the plan and team appears.
As you start to chase the light, dawn comes.
As you start to write, the words appear —
As you start to smile, you will find yourself alive in a house of mirrors,
And as you start to believe that you are worth it, you’ll find that two things can be true:

your hands can both hold and be held…

And then that the inverse holds as well.

As you stop running, stillness appears.
As you release tension, peace appears.

As you pour yourself out,
the soil appears,
follows you around,
pre-sewn with rows of mustard seeds —

As you start to trust God, God appears in you. by @nilesheron

The Diaspora Pitch Competiton with @venture313 @blacktechsaturdays and @afrofuture was a reminder of what it looks like when we build bridges. Grateful to see so many people chasing their dreams, and more grateful to a village here in Detroit who always show up to help them find a stage and a little more encouragement to #DoTheWork.

Congrats to @thecoloringmuseum @pogo.vote and @drivennpay on their prize placement. And thanks to all the support from @gilbertfamilyfoundation who make these events possible. by @nilesheron

“It feels like heaven’s following me everywhere.”

I’m on my fourth sunscreen can of summer.

My golfer’s tan is more dramatic than that of your favorite farmer.

Grateful. by @nilesheron

i’m several weeks late for a birthday post, but i shot a 39 within a week of my actual birthday. still need to work on completing my follow through, among myriad other swing, and stance, and alignment, and mindset changes. golf, the more and more i play, is a lot like life. a fact is a fact, if it happened it happened, you can only control what you’re about to do, and you can’t hide from what happened.

this last chapter of my 30s is being written from a very different place than where i thought i’d pen it. but i’m grateful for it. the pages i’m writing on are drenched in sunlight. flooded with as much opportunity as uncertainty. it feels like i’m finding myself… in some ways finding again, and in some others, finding anew. stock tip: buy stock in sunscreen, because i’m about to personally guarantee that category’s performance.

(author’s note, that drive went in the lake) by @nilesheron

this is what we’re working on, here in Detroit.

at every level we can tap, @venture313 and all of our partners (internal and external) are doing the work to build a system that conspires to benefit founders in this region — we still have lots of work to do, but we aren’t afraid to do that work — thank you to @garlinii for helping us kick off last week’s founder program and talking to us about the sectors our state government is investing in. by @nilesheron